Tobacco-leaf counting and grading apparatus.



:EARON. TOBACCO LEAPCOUNTING AND GRADING APPARATUS.

w I APPLICATION FILED :MAYl, 1909. V

Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

U A m v v v A ,..T

T. E. PEARON, TOBACCO LEAPGOUNTINGiAND GRAD-ING APPARATUS.

APPLIGATIOR-P'IILEDAMAY11.1909. I

. Patented Apr.22, 1913.

. T.E.FB ARON.' TOBACOQ LBABGOUNTING "AND GRADING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION PILE'D MAY 1, 1909. I 1-,'059,72 4.- a Patented Apr. 22, 19 13.

T. E. FEABON. I TOBACCO LEAF COUNTING AND-GRADING AFPARATUS. fgQPPLIGATION IYILED MAY 1, 1909.

Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

- unrrnn STATES. PATENT ormoam ms summer rnrnnni'i'nrnre, rniijiisYnvniim, ASSIGNOR or one-HALF T cmn'rorr MALONEY, or rrumnnnrnm, PENNSYLVANIA.

"To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. FEAnoN, a

citizen ofthe United States, residing in r Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Tobacco-Leaf Counting and Grading Apparatus, of which "the following is a specification.

' In the manufacture of cigars the leaves intended for the production of wrappers Amara-first stripped'by the removal of the central stem and the opposite halves of the leaves, (technically known. as sides but whichl will, for convenience, refer to as V leaves are bundled. together and then whose duty it is to'determine whether each f-lettf is capable of forming, one, two, three er fou-r wrappers and to properly sort or grade the leaves, the capabilities of each leaf being determined partly byIthe size 'of the same and partly by its condition, since a perfect leaf may be capable of furnishing more wrappers than one of-the same size which is. torn, has holes in it, or is otherwise imperfect. e

At present the selector besides sorting and grading'the leaveshas to count the same into bundles each capable of furnishing a predetermined number of wrappers (usually 100) and these bundles are then given to the operator who cuts thewrapperstherefrom. The object of my invention is to relieve the selector from the duty of counting the leaves and to accurately register the number not only roviding'the cigar manufacturer with relia le information as to the wrapper producing value of any given lot of tobacco, but also removing a fruitful source of contention between the selector and the operator who cuts the wrappers, because of incorrect counting of the number of leaves in the bundles. This object I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section, on the line a-a, Fig. 4:, of a tobacco leaf sorting and counting machine constructed a' similar view showing some of the parts in a difierent position from that represented Specification of Iietters Patent.

given to an operator known as 'a f selector of each sort or grade of the same, thereby in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

Application filed Kay 1, 1909. Serial No. 493,302.

verse section illustratinga special'c onstruction of certain parts of the machine.

In the drawings, 1 represents a table or bench mounted upon a support comprising opposite ends 2 and a back 3, these parts, in conjunction with a bottom board 4, an inclined front 5-and a hinged and slotted flap 6, inclosing the greater part of the operating mechanism located below the table or bench 1, as shown in Fig. l, and in order to prevent unauthorized access to said mechanism, the flap 6 may be provided with suitable locks' 50, as shown in Fig. 3.

Mounted upon the table orbench 1 are suitable standards 7 supporting a series of saddles 90f which there may be as many as there are likely to be different sorts or .grades in'the leaves to be handled, four of these saddles being shown in the present instance, and indicated respectively at 9, 9 9' and 9 in Fig. 3, the saddle 9 receiving those leaves which will furnish but one wrapper, the saddle 9 receiving thosewhich will furnish two wrappers,jthe saddle 9 receiving those which will furnish three wrappers-and the saddle 9 receiving those which will furnish four wrappers. Cooperating with each of these saddles is a clamping plate'lO pivotally mounted upon a head 11 secured to the forwardly bent upper end of a bar 12 which is suitably guided in the table or bench 1 and in the bottom board l, and is pivotally connected, at its lower end; to a treadle 13, the series of treadles being mounted upon alongitudinal rod 14 extending fromone end frame 2 to the other and the various treadles being maintained in their proper relation to one another by means of tube sections 15 or equivalent separators, filling pieces or retainers interposed between the treadles. I

The selector, after determiningv the sort or grade of a particular leaf, depresses the treadle 13 corresponding with the saddle upon which said leaf is to be laid, thereby lifting the clamping plate 10, the leaf being then laid upon the saddle and the pressure upon the treadle removed so as to permit the clamping. plate 10 to descend and confine said leaf to the saddle.

In order to facilitate the application of into contact with this hooked finger which thereby causes the clamp to tilt, so as to raise 7 its forward end and provide, at the front of the saddl'efa space greater than the amount of lift imparted to the clamp, the application of the leafto the saddle or to the leaf already piled thereon being effected conveniently and without risk of contact of the hands with the clamp. (See F 2.) Hinged to the back of the supporting structure of the machine is a longitudinal bar 17 having a wprojecting arm 19 which-is connected by a rod 20 to the swinging arm 21 of a counting register 22, suitably supported beneath'the table or bench l, and; upon each of the'bars 12' is a spring catch 23 which, when said-bar is lifted, engages, the bar 17 and lifts the same so as to} cause one operation of. the counting register 22. I f If the bar 12 has an extreme lift the spring catch 23 may pass beyond the bar 17 and the latter will then fall and on the descent of the bar 12, the spring catch 23;

will first be pushed outward by contact with thebar 17 and will then spring in beneath the same so' as to be in operative relation thereto on the next lift of the bar 12 or if: the rise of the bar 12 is not sufficient to carry said catch 23 free from contact with the bar 17, the latter will drop when the bar 12 is lowered. There will thus be one operation of theregister 22 for each lift of either of the bars 12 and its clamp 10and said reg ister thus becomes a primary'registerfor counting the totalnumber of leaves applied to the various saddles, and.in order to keep oted and weighted pawl 29 which engages -with the teeth of a ratchet wheel 30 free to turn on said shaft 27, the ratchet wheel 3 corresponding to each saddle 9 having teeth whose number is dependent upon the num-' ber of leaves necessary to form a bundle onsaid saddle, that is to say the number of leaves necessary to form one-hundred wrappers, each rotation of each ratchet wheel therefore representing a bundle of leaves of its respective grade. 1

Secured to one side of each of the ratchet wheels 30 is a disk 31 having, in its periphery, anotch 32 adapted to be-engaged by a weighted pawl 33 hung to a longitudinal rod 34 upon which is also pivotally mounted a vdetent 35 shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, whereby back movement of the ratchet wheel is prevented, Movement of the disk 31 and of the ratchet wheel 30 to which it is secured will therefore be prevented after said ratchet wheel has made the bar 12 cooperating with the corresponding saddle and will indicate to the operator that the properg-number of leaves have-been ,7

applied to'saidsaddle. r

r In order to release the mechanism so that the bar 12 can be raised and the clamp plate 10 lifted to permit of the removal from the saddle of. the bundle of leaves applied there to, the pawl 33 is' connected to a rod 36- which projects through one of the slots in the flap 6, and-has, at its outer end, a suitable handle 37, whereby'the attendant can, by pulling upon the rod, remove the pawl 33 from' engagement with 'the notch 32 .of the disk 31 and thereby permit of the necessary lift of the bar 12, the rod being normally retained in itsinnermost position by means of a coiled spring 39 interposed be tween a collar on the rod and the hanger bv which said rod is guided. Each pawl 33 also has. pivotally connectedto it the rear I end of a rod 40 whose front end is connected to the arm 41 of a counting register 42,

which thus constitutes a secondary register for counting the number of bundles of leaves.

applied to its "respective saddle,

As the bar-'12 is raised, sofas to cauise the lifting of its clamp 10 topermit removal of the bundle of leaves from any one of-the Y saddles, the notch 32 of the corresponding disk 31 is carried forwardly and'ifthe rod 7 36; is then released and moved inwardly by means of its spring 39, the pawl 33 will contact withthe periphery of the disk 31 and will be in position to again engage with the notch 32 when said disk has completed another revolution. I The extent of lifting movement of, each bar '12 decreases as the leaves are succesa sively deposited upon the saddles 9 and ar: rest the descending movement of the'clamp 10 at progressively higher points, and the res spring catch 23 is so dlsposed in respect to the bar 17 that it will engage with the latter when the descending movement of the bar 12 is shortest To reduce the amount of lost motion in connection with the operation of the pawl 25, however, the bar 12 is provided with aplurality of teeth 24 and in order that the pawl carrying arm 26 may have a definite and predetermined movement irrespective of thevariation in the extent of movement of the bar 12, provision is made for releasing the pawl 25 from the control of said bar after such predetermined movement has been imparted to the arm 26. When the arm 26 is in its lowermost position its outer arm rests upon a bracket 43 mounted upon the back board 3 of the supporting structure and upon the latter are to the saddle, and means for releasing said v counting device.

9. In a machine of the character described,

the combination ofa plurality of saddles for receiving different sorts or grades of leaves, and a counting device common to all of the saddles. p

10. In a .machine of the character described, the combination of a plurality of saddles for receiving ;difl'erent sorts or grades of leaves, a plurality of counting devices each operatingin connection with its respective saddle, and a counting device operable in connection with any one of the saddles;

11. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a plurality of grades of leaves, a clamp operable in con-' nection with each saddle for pressing upon the leaves, means for independently operat ing said clamps, a plurality of counting de..-:

vices, each operable in connection with its respective clamp operating device, and a counting device operable in connection with any one of the clamp operating devices.

13. In a machine of the character described, the-combination-of a saddle for receiving the leaves, means .for counting the number of leaves applied to the saddle,

means for locking said counting device after a predetermined number of leaves have been applied to-the saddle, means for releasing said locking device, and a register operated on each release of the same. I, g 14. In a machine of the, character described, the combination of a saddle for receiving-tl1e' leaves, a clamp pressingnpon engagingsaid operating device, and means "for releasing the pawl from engagement with the operating device before 'the'latter has completed its movement.

15. In a machine of the character de scribed, the combination of a saddlefor releaves, a movable operating device forsaid ceiving the leaves, a clamp pressing upon the the leaves, a movable operating device'fori i said clamp, a counting device having apawl clamp, a counting device having a pawl engaging said operating device, means for releasing the pawl from engagement with the operating device before the latter has conipleted its movement, means-for retaining.

the pawl in its position of release during further movement of the operating device,

andmeans for then releasing the pawl from such restraint.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses. a x I THOMAS E. FEARON.

Witnesses:

HAMILTON D.ZTURNER,

KATE A. BnAnm. 

